Word of the tech meetup was spread by a BUZZ campaign, according to Axel Schultz, chief executive officer of Society3, who said, "170 advocates helped make this a full house -- we reached 1.4 million."

Buzz costs $1,000 per year for startups.

"We ran 500 campaigns last year," Schultz said, contending that the messages will not be viewed as spam if they come from friends.